Eternal life

Early One Morning

/ pastorpete51 / 1 Comment

In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. Matthew 28:1 KJV

The women came so early that the sun had not yet crested the horizon. They came not in eager anticipation of seeing Jesus but with sorrow prepared for a final good-bye. They little realized but what was far beyond anything they could have hoped for, had already accomplished. The tomb stood open and empty, because Jesus had already risen from the dead!

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The wonderful news for us is that in our own lives the resurrection of Jesus has also come with unexpected hope. Before even the first shaft of sunlight can chase away our shadows God wants us to discover that He has already done everything we need! All that remains for us to do is come. Come if you feel heavy with grief and confusion. If it everything that was precious feels like it has disappeared He calls you to the place where He once lay. There is a miracle to be found beyond anything you can imagine. There is a day about to dawn that will challenge your doubts and drive off every fear. There is something beyond all our hopes and infinitely higher than our dreams. Jesus Christ is alive. He rose from the grave and He is watching for us to walk up the pathway. He is waiting to meet us if we will just come early in the morning because a new day is just beginning to dawn!

 

 

Packing a Suitcase For Heaven

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Cast your burden on the Lord , and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.
Psalms 55:22 ESV

Some burdens feel like an overweight suitcase dragging behind us as we run through the airport of life.  But God promises us that if we ask Him, He will carry it for us. In God’s calendar He has marked a day for our departure from our planet and like every other trip we must pack our suitcases. We have a close friend who has traveled so often that he joked that he could pack for overseas in 15 minutes. The reason for his boast was that he had learned the secret not only of what to bring, but also what to leave behind. When we pack for heaven that is doubly true. First be sure to include lots of mercy. Mercy takes up almost no space at all and considering how often we mess up here on earth I need plenty! 

Second be sure to include the portion of faith that God has given you. Remember that in heaven we will still walk by faith because even after we see His face we still need to trust in His goodness. And don’t forget to stuff in so much love, joy and praise that you may need to sit on your suitcase to get it closed. The way to have enough room for all these is learning what to leave behind. The first thing to take out is bitterness because it will make our luggage way too heavy. And as you are tossing that out you can put complaining back on the shelf as well. God won’t be interested to hear from us about our brother or sisters faults. He will instead show us how much it cost Him to forgive ours. God is so good and any day one of us will stand before Him. What we choose to pack or not pack for our most important journey will stay with us forever. Be sure to travel light!

 

 

Growing Older With Jesus

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I am grateful to my friend Robert Keller for his guest post today. Recently as he was recovering from a medical incident he spent three weeks in a long term care setting. That experience put him in the same kind of situation I see every week as I visit in facilities around our community. It is easy to forget that residents in long term care are no different than any of us on the outside. But God remembers! Here is my good friend’s perspective on growing older and learning to lean more and more on the Lord.

Robert Keller

 

As we grow older, we become painfully aware of our increasing physical limitations.  Although outwardly there is a slow decline which results in restricted activity, inwardly the Spirit of God is carrying on an amazing process of revitalization and transformation that results in an ever-increasing freedom unlike anything we experienced in our youth.

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It gets harder and harder to make out what friends are saying to us in a noisy restaurant, but our hearts hear the Shepherd’s voice more clearly than ever. We find that our legs cannot carry us as far or as fast as they used to, yet our walk with the Lord is strong and steady and it leaves us energized instead of exhausted. Our minds are now slow to process new information, but through the Holy Spirit, we are gaining a progressively deeper understanding of the truths found in God’s word. We do not see as well as we once did, but spiritually, our eyes have grown keener and we clearly see the hand of God moving in marvelous ways. Life in this world may become increasingly difficult as our bodies wear out, yet our hearts are filled with peace, hope and joy because

As we focus on the glory of the Lord, we are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. (2 Cor 3:18)